Why Should I Buy from You? Hint: It’s Not About Price

“Do you know what people value most when you sell to them?”

WII-FM? Here is a challenge for you. Make a commitment to yourself (before this week is out) to ask your top customers WHY they like doing business with you. Ask them, “Why do you like buying from us?” “What do we do that rocks your world?” It might surprise you to discover what makes you popular with your customers instead of what you think makes you popular. Do you know what your top selling product or service is? Do you know what people like best about doing business with you? The answer will reveal a wealth of potential profits for you and your organization. Why? Because once you know what people want most, you can sell them more with higher profits. People pay (and will pay even more) for what they see value in from a product. Why? Because they are buying what the product does and means for them instead of what the seller often thinks. Every consumer is most interested in WII-FM – “What’s In It - For ME?” Don’t believe me? Starbucks is an expensive coffee shop. When they were first introduced, they were criticized by many for selling overpriced coffee. But they have overcome Burger King and Wendy’s to become the 3rd largest chain of restaurants in the US. Only McDonald’s and Subway have them beat… so far.

• Look at how Chick-fil-a has outsold KFC 5 to 1 last year while being moreexpensive,butonlyin39statesandtheyareclosedonSundays.

• ConsiderhowpopularPublix is inFloridaandmanyotherstates,even thoughtheyareoneofthemostexpensivegrocerystores.

• NoticethepopularityofDisneywhentheirpricesincreaseyearly.Familiesstillflocktovisitandpaythehigherfeeseachyear.

We Wanted to Be Cool! I was surprised when I began looking for a new air conditioning system for our house a while back. We were hot and wanted to get cool. Our old unit wasn’t working properly so before it got too hot, we began looking for a new system. What an eye-opening ordeal! Who would think buying an air conditioner would be such a sales learning experience? I told each salesman that we were hot and just wanted to be cool. One salesman tried to run down every other company in town. Still another tried to prove that his system and service was superior (oversold it to us is more accurate). One showed us all the awards his company had earned from evaluation services. Finally, one criticized us for getting bids from anyone else. They all seemed to have answers to questions they asked. After several exhausting interviews, some friends suggested a local company who helped them after a storm. They said this company was the only one who came and said, “We will fix your problem” – not, “How much money did the insurance company give you?” Hugh, the representative, came on an incredibly hot day and immediately asked if we were comfortable at night in our home. When we said we weren’t, he said what we had waited for, “You won’t sleep hot tonight.” Then Hugh said, “Whether you choose us or not, I won’t leave your system without enough Freon (refrigerant) in it.” He didn’t try to sell us a system; he sold us the benefits of a cool night. He didn’t have to get permission from the boss to satisfy us. He added Freon to our system on the spot. He had the authority to make his company and boss look good by making us happy. He said he always carries a canister with him to help make sales. No slick presentation. No list of awards/accomplishments. No put-downs. He just asked what we really wanted… We wanted to be cool! We didn’t have to think about it. He won our business by asking us what we wanted and giving us what we needed. Empowering Hugh to satisfy the customer made him the winner in the “Keep Our Family Cool” contest. By the way, his bid wasn’t the least expensive. But it was the most valuable we were offered. We would have paid anything to get cool without being ripped off.

Do your people have to get permission to make you look good to customers? Do your sales or service staff have to run and get “Mommy’s” or “Daddy’s” permission to service the customer? Wouldn’t you much rather talk to the person with the authority instead of the one with just responsibility? If you start asking people why they are buying from you, you just might discover that you are selling something that you weren’t even aware you had in your inventory. You might discover an untapped resource that is creating a movement of large numbers of customers choosing you and your company that they can’t get from anyone anywhere else. What is the top product or service they buy from you? Why do they like to do business with you?

Once you give people the authority to make day-to-day decisions, you will see them take on new responsibilities. If you are hiring people and giving them responsibility with NO authority, no wonder they are frustrated with their jobs… and you as their leader. Have you ever had a job with responsibility and no authority? Did you like it? Neither do your people. If they were good enough to get the job (which speaks to your hiring and vetting process), then they should be given the authority to actually do their job. They will take on the responsibility as the needs arise. It will also free you up to do more important things on your priority list. From Policies to Perks Companies spend fortunes every year trying to determine what will sell the best in a new market. However, they don’t spend nearly enough finding out what is already selling best. Some of the big corporations do this (on occasion), but it is very rare. The auto giant, Ford, wanted to encourage people to buy only from their dealerships. They were so angry that their customers were buying on-line, they waited for months before beefing up their internet presence. Finally, it was almost too little, too late. For a long time, they sent out memorandums and spent thousands of dollars trying to coerce customers NOT to buy from the internet. Many business people feel they have an overstock of unwanted products that they must push to customers - who neither need or want them. Customers will finally capitulate and buy only if enough pressure is applied. How wrong! They hang on to their “dinosaurs” in products in an effort to cling to what they think people should buy (or they fear admitting their sales failure).

It’s NOT About Price! Customers know what they need, but most sales people don’t have a clue. They already buy from you for a reason, but you fail to find out who is buying, and more importantly, WHY they are buying? Doesn’t that make sense? I heard a service representative for a company say that he was successful whenever he “gave in” and started giving his customers what they wanted. Duh! Do you have policies in place that prevent people from getting what they want from you? Do you have procedures or products that are dinosaurs and should be put to rest… permanently? Have you noticed the frequent problems many airlines have had in throwing paying customers out of their seats and off the plane lately? These are their customers who expected to fly “friendly” skies! Is your business characterized by this scenario in one form or another? Are refusing to sell what customers want in order to make them abide by your rules and on your terms? Many companies do the same thing in their policies and lack of service to the people who need help the most – their frequent customers (and without regard to the popularity of social

media where everyday people post their negative experiences). What is your business doing right now that ignores who is buying, what they are buying and why? Turn your policies into perks for your customers and watch your sales and service improve.

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Jim Mathis, IPCS, CSP, MDiv. is The Reinvention PRO™, an International Platform Certified Speaker, Certified Speaking Professional and best-selling author of Reinvention Made Easy: Change Your Strategy, Change Your Results. To subscribe to his free professional development newsletter, please send an email to: subscribe@jimmathis.com with the word SUBSCRIBE in the subject. An electronic copy will be sent out to you every month. For more information on how Jim and his programs can benefit your organization or group, please call 888-688-0220, or visit his web site: www.jimmathis.com. © 2017 Jim Mathis, The Reinvention PRO™